NOTES ON THE WAR

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 21, 26 January 1944, Page 4

NOTES ON THE WAR

ROAD TO ROME

SITUATION IN ITAIY

The latest Allied operations from their new bridgehead oh .the Italian coast south of Home appear to be having the desired effect on Hitler's "winter line' 1 across the Apennines. There are signs of an enemy retirement.

The forces landed by the Allies on the coast both sides of Nettuno between the Roman Campagna and the Pontine Marshes have not been stated as to numbers, but they must be considerable and substantial,, for this is not a commando raid, but an invasion. Probably there is at least an, army corps--40 > GQO to 50,000 men—in the large bridgehead, 15 miles, wide at the base along the coast and. penetrating to a depth of at least 12 miles inland. Probably, also, the bridgehead extends at its base from Astura, 6$ miles from Nettuno to the south, to beyond the little port of Anzio in he north, a couple of miles from Nettuno. It is not an ideal coast for disembarkation, as General Maitland-Wil* son points out. but the Allies have so many varied types of landing craft that they will be able to surmount initial difficulties. The so-called "ducks" are amphibian craft, boats fitted with wheels,- sometimes with tracks, which can run up beaches ana inland. They have been used successfully in several American landing operations not only in the Mediterranean, but in the Pacific from the Aleutians to the Solomons. Progress of invasion, . The Appian Way, mentioned in the news, runs parallel with the coast, 15 to 20 miles inland, and a double-track electric railway connects the new Pontine Marsh settlements, notably Littoria, with Rome, It is said that the British troops have reached Littoria, but confirmation, i$ lacking so far. One might assume from this that the British are on the right flank and the Americans on the left of the invading army. This seems to be confirmed by the German report that the Allies had reached Velletri, some 24 miles from Rome, but that Mthe Americans would find the town complete* ly destroyed" with "only debris and ashes" left. VeUetri is on the railway connecting Anzio and Rome x v^ nd,^ e" yqnd it, towards Rome, are the Alban Mounts, an isolated group, With Mt. Albano, 3745 feet, the highest, and the Alban Lake in the centre, famous for the houseboats of the Roman Emperors in the days of the old Empire, j On both sides of these mountains railways and highways—the Via Appia and the Via Latina— connecting Rome with the South," Effect on ■' Winter Line.'' The effect of the landings on the military situation in Italy i§ that Hitlers1 "winter line" across .the Apennines is threatened from the. rear, as is also Rome itself. The "winter lme t was designed to protect Rome, but unless the new Allied bridgehead can be eliminated, the Germans can have little further justification for lingering so far to the south in danger of being cut off and destroyed. There are signs already that they are beginning to pull out and retire further north, fighting only strong delaying actions, as is their wont to gain time for orderly withdrawal, Germany is supposed to .have about 17 divisions in Italy, most of them in the "winter line" or close to it. There may be one or two divisions in and around Rome. The effort now will no doubt be to concentrate the maximum ' force, as quickly. as possible, to deal with the new Allied operation before it has time to spread far from the bridgehead and make room for more forces to land. Enemy Reaction. It can be taken, then, that the Germans will be using every able means and route of transport to mass troops in the area south of Rome with the utmost speed. The "winter line" is likely to be divested of all but a limited number of troops left to delay the advance of the Fifth and Eighth Armies as long as possible while the rest fall back. Demolitions and minelaying will again be the order of the day. If the Allied armies in the south can be cheeked from advancing rapidly to link up with the Nettuno force, it is quite likely that big battles may develop south of Rome, with the Allies numerically for a time at a disadvantage. So far little of the kind has occurred, but the Appian Way, the Via Latina, and the trans-Apen-nine Pesoara-Rome highway, with such railways as are. still in working order, will be crowded with transport moving to the new battlefield, with the Allied armies coming up from the south behind them and Allied aircraft bombing them day and night, The alternative for the Germans would be to evacuate the whole of central Italy, including Rome, a.nd retire behind the northern Apennines to the Plain of Lombardy. It is hard^ ly likely they will do this without a fight, because such a withdrawal would leave the airfields round Rome and Leghorn to the Allies for near bases to bomb Germany from the south. For the moment the whole military situation in Italy is once more fluid. Trail of Destruction. The trail of destruction, usually with no military object behind it, is to be seen in both Russia and Italy. Vellitri, said to be in ruins, is one of Italy's most ancient towns (Veltrae), dating back to the fifth century 8.C., before it was conquered by the Romans. It had many monuments, including inscriptions in the Volscian language. Pushkin, formerly Tsarskoe Selo, was the town of the splendid summer palace of the Tsars-—the word Tsarskoe Selo meaning' "Tsars' Village." The old palace, built in 1724, was gorgeously decorated with mother-of-pearl, lapis lazuli, marble, amber, silver, and gold. It had a famous art gallery, and a statue of the poet Pushkin in bronze. The Alexander Palace was built by Catherine P. (1792.6), The first railway in Russia, built in I.SS?-^, connected Tsarskoe Selo with Leningrad (St. Petersburg), and the town was the first in Europe to be lighted; by electricity "(1887), It is now all in ruins. }